Happy New Year!
Hey friends and family! Nice to communicate with you again!
Hannah and I arrived back in Jayapura yesterday morning about 9:00 AM. Our trip to Biak turned out to be not quite as relaxing as we had hoped. We took a private car to the Sentani airport here on the mainland at 5:00 AM last Thursday morning, which cost Rp150,000 ($15.00 but still fairly expensive by standards here). The driver was late, so he drove us at an illegal speed to the airport so we could make our flight on time. We made our flight without a hitch, and the plane ride was very pleasant. Hannah and I have been very impressed with Garuda Indonesia so far. They provide a small meal for EVERY flight, no matter how short. Makes US Airlines look downright disorganized.
We arrived in Biak early in the morning, and it was rainy. We didn’t do any research before we left Jayapura, nor did we know anyone on Biak, so we had to wing it. We sat chatting with some locals at the airport for almost half an hour before we decided to try and hitch a taxi into “Biak Kota” (Biak City). We made it to the city, but didn’t know where to go, so we grabbed our bags and marched down the main road, hoping for some sign as to what we should do. Luckily for us, we received a blessing. Half-way down the road someone called out to us from a house. It was a young plump woman eager to give us some advice. She brought us into her yard and had us relax on her porch while she arranged for a car to take us around to some hotels. As it turned out she was a very close relative to one of the teachers at EF! She was very kind, and helped us select a hotel that suited our needs. The first hotel we tried to check into noticed that we both had written “single” for our social status, and refused to allow us to share a room. The next hotel we went to, we both decided to write “married” in the box labeled “social status”, and they were happy to let us share a room.
After we rested we went to try and find a beach. In Indonesia, if you are in a city, you can be sure there will be no beaches. It seems like people build whatever they can right out on to the water. We had to walk for about a half mile before we spotted something that looked like a beach, and then, not really. We plodded around on this “not-really” beach for a while, and were greeted by a local. Hannah chatted with him while I looked for interesting shells, and finally he agreed to meet us somewhere the next day and give a ride to a good beach. We waited at the specified location early the next morning, and our “guide” didn’t show. Probably got drunk the night before.
Instead, we met someone there named “Mattheus” (not sure if I got the spelling right there, forgive me). Mattheus turned out to be a really nice guy. He was a big “Orang Biak” (native of Biak) and spoke enough English to have an intelligent conversation. We chatted for about thirty minutes and then he decided to help escort us to the taxi station, where he helped us on a bus to a nice beach in East Biak. The beach was wonderful, and we got there early so it was quiet. I went looking for shells, and at the point I swam in clear blue water with some Papuan children. They showed me a spot on the cliff above the point where they were cliff-diving. I took one dive, with success.
We left the beach an hour or two before dusk, and went to a “fancy” “Rumah Makan” (restaurant) and ate some delicious food. I ordered something by mistake and had to wander into the kitchen to tell them not to cook it. The next day Hannah contracted a bug (probably from the restaurant) and it put her out of commission for the day, frequenting the toilet. After Hannah recovered, I contracted the bug. Mattheus’s brother had agreed to take us on a boat to some of the nearby islands along with some Russian folks, but he turned out to be unreliable and didn’t show up. We left about noon for the same beach, me with the bug now.
New Year’s Eve came with about as much noise and fireworks as we could handle. People all down our street were shooting fireworks of on the sidewalks, in there front yards, down the street whizzing past the heads of patrolling policemen… I lit a couple sparklers, and Hannah and I watched some of the larger fireworks in the sky, then headed back to bed.
New Year’s Day was our last day, and we tried our luck again with Mattheus’s brother. We ended up sitting with Mattheus at his house (a couple shacks surrounded by scratching chickens and a hobbling dog) and chatting while we waited for his brother to return with the Russians. Mattheus gave us some soda, which I appreciated very much since I could hardly keep so much as water in me. Finally his brother showed up with the Russians, and we had a very disorganized and wet journey to a couple of the small islands.
It’s nice to be back in Jayapura now, getting ready to get into the swing of teaching again. At this point it’s almost looking as if the school here will be shut down by Jakarta, since nearly all the teachers currently working here will be terminating their employment in the next couple months, and since the owner’s might have actually lied about the insurance policy and broken everyone’s contract. More news about that when it comes.
I’m out of time, so Happy New Year to everyone, and I hope you’ve all made some good resolutions.
Until next time,
-Nick
Hannah and I arrived back in Jayapura yesterday morning about 9:00 AM. Our trip to Biak turned out to be not quite as relaxing as we had hoped. We took a private car to the Sentani airport here on the mainland at 5:00 AM last Thursday morning, which cost Rp150,000 ($15.00 but still fairly expensive by standards here). The driver was late, so he drove us at an illegal speed to the airport so we could make our flight on time. We made our flight without a hitch, and the plane ride was very pleasant. Hannah and I have been very impressed with Garuda Indonesia so far. They provide a small meal for EVERY flight, no matter how short. Makes US Airlines look downright disorganized.
We arrived in Biak early in the morning, and it was rainy. We didn’t do any research before we left Jayapura, nor did we know anyone on Biak, so we had to wing it. We sat chatting with some locals at the airport for almost half an hour before we decided to try and hitch a taxi into “Biak Kota” (Biak City). We made it to the city, but didn’t know where to go, so we grabbed our bags and marched down the main road, hoping for some sign as to what we should do. Luckily for us, we received a blessing. Half-way down the road someone called out to us from a house. It was a young plump woman eager to give us some advice. She brought us into her yard and had us relax on her porch while she arranged for a car to take us around to some hotels. As it turned out she was a very close relative to one of the teachers at EF! She was very kind, and helped us select a hotel that suited our needs. The first hotel we tried to check into noticed that we both had written “single” for our social status, and refused to allow us to share a room. The next hotel we went to, we both decided to write “married” in the box labeled “social status”, and they were happy to let us share a room.
After we rested we went to try and find a beach. In Indonesia, if you are in a city, you can be sure there will be no beaches. It seems like people build whatever they can right out on to the water. We had to walk for about a half mile before we spotted something that looked like a beach, and then, not really. We plodded around on this “not-really” beach for a while, and were greeted by a local. Hannah chatted with him while I looked for interesting shells, and finally he agreed to meet us somewhere the next day and give a ride to a good beach. We waited at the specified location early the next morning, and our “guide” didn’t show. Probably got drunk the night before.
Instead, we met someone there named “Mattheus” (not sure if I got the spelling right there, forgive me). Mattheus turned out to be a really nice guy. He was a big “Orang Biak” (native of Biak) and spoke enough English to have an intelligent conversation. We chatted for about thirty minutes and then he decided to help escort us to the taxi station, where he helped us on a bus to a nice beach in East Biak. The beach was wonderful, and we got there early so it was quiet. I went looking for shells, and at the point I swam in clear blue water with some Papuan children. They showed me a spot on the cliff above the point where they were cliff-diving. I took one dive, with success.
We left the beach an hour or two before dusk, and went to a “fancy” “Rumah Makan” (restaurant) and ate some delicious food. I ordered something by mistake and had to wander into the kitchen to tell them not to cook it. The next day Hannah contracted a bug (probably from the restaurant) and it put her out of commission for the day, frequenting the toilet. After Hannah recovered, I contracted the bug. Mattheus’s brother had agreed to take us on a boat to some of the nearby islands along with some Russian folks, but he turned out to be unreliable and didn’t show up. We left about noon for the same beach, me with the bug now.
New Year’s Eve came with about as much noise and fireworks as we could handle. People all down our street were shooting fireworks of on the sidewalks, in there front yards, down the street whizzing past the heads of patrolling policemen… I lit a couple sparklers, and Hannah and I watched some of the larger fireworks in the sky, then headed back to bed.
New Year’s Day was our last day, and we tried our luck again with Mattheus’s brother. We ended up sitting with Mattheus at his house (a couple shacks surrounded by scratching chickens and a hobbling dog) and chatting while we waited for his brother to return with the Russians. Mattheus gave us some soda, which I appreciated very much since I could hardly keep so much as water in me. Finally his brother showed up with the Russians, and we had a very disorganized and wet journey to a couple of the small islands.
It’s nice to be back in Jayapura now, getting ready to get into the swing of teaching again. At this point it’s almost looking as if the school here will be shut down by Jakarta, since nearly all the teachers currently working here will be terminating their employment in the next couple months, and since the owner’s might have actually lied about the insurance policy and broken everyone’s contract. More news about that when it comes.
I’m out of time, so Happy New Year to everyone, and I hope you’ve all made some good resolutions.
Until next time,
-Nick
posted by Nick at 9:15 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home